BACK IN SPADES - The Time Is Now

BACK IN SPADES The Time Is Now cd 2005
Baby's Getting Higher / Detroit Slums (Here We Come) / Five Years Ahead / Better Than I Was Yesterday / No Sympathy / Cowboys And Indians / The Time Is Now / City Slang.
Produced by S. Palmer & R. Shelby.
Back In Spades: S. Palmer: vocals, guitars / J. Smith: guitar / A. Rochon: bass / J. Leone: drums.
One would tend to assume that coming from rock & roll royalty like J. Smith means that a career in music is golden. Smith, who's the first-born child of MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith and punk priestess P. Smith, isn't particularly looking to be crowned. Back in Spades isn't his band. Back in Spades is four friends who want to touch, feel, and hear (not to mention swallow) the blood, sweat, and tears of rock & roll. Guitarist/vocalist S. Palmer, bassist A. Rochon, and drummer J. Leone complement Smith's impressive blues-inspired guitar work as does he to their tight musicianship on their debut EP, "The Time Is Now". Smith and his bandmates start from scratch. Having scoured the Motor City streets since their early-2003 inception, Back in Spades allow their roots to consume them -- no apologies and thank goodness for that. From the brash proto-punk-soul of "Baby's Getting Higher" to the gutsy delivery of "Five Years Ahead," The Time Is Now" sets its own stage."Better Than Yesterday" tames the rowdy tirade just a bit for a jangly pop juncture. "Cowboys and Indians" builds upon that formula with layered percussion, guitars, and a cowbell for the record's brightest feel-good moment. Palmer's roaring vocals and Smith's ambitious playing style allow "The Time Is Now" to set itself apart from the jam band and garage rock-tailored sound emerging from the suburbs of Detroit. Doing it without expectations other than their own has clearly worked for Back in Spades. Honoring Smith's late father with a cover of "City Slang" by Sonic's Rendez-vous Band only proves that their effort in making rock & roll real, something completely raw and smart outside of the fashion slickness of the Strokes, is right on. Back in Spades are doing rock & roll a favor. You don't need to be knighted to do that.
McK. Wilson
A Mister D. post!